Refugee crisis ‘test of our own common humanity’

EDITOR:

Bob Koigi, Nairobi

By the end of 2016, a record 65.6 million people had been uprooted by what they have known as home as a result of conflicts, persecution, hunger and climate change, a new report by the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR shows.

The report comes as the world marks the International day of refugees being celebrated today. Put into context the numbers portend that last year alone, about 10.3 million people fled their homes including those who crossed international borders. The refugee agency quantifies this showing that this represents one person becoming displaced every three seconds, “less than the time it takes to read this sentence,” it said.

African countries are no stranger to the refugee and internally displaced persons puzzle catalyzed by politically instigated violence, incessant drought and xenophobia with numbers standing at over 12.4 million by 2015.

From Nigerians fleeing the Boko Haram wrath, Ethiopians running from drought to those perishing in the unforgiving waters of Mediterranean Sea as they seek greener pastures abroad, the continent has recorded the highest number of displacements now more than ever. Already South Sudan has been classified Africa’s largest refugee crisis, having seen the displacement of 3.7 million people from their homes, about a third of its population, since the civil war in 2013 broke.

And as the world marks this year’s day of the refugees, interesting insights have shaped this debate world over with claims of hypocrisy and double standards featuring. While well to do countries have been accused of frustrating the international obligations to treatment of displaced people and turning their back on the suffering, the poorer countries who themselves are exposed to conditions that would force them to free their home countries have embraced open door policy towards refugees. Kenya for example is home to the largest refugee camp in the world housing more than 300,000 majority of them Somalis who fled from a country that has become synonymous with lawlessness, terrorism, famine and diseases.

Uganda, Kenya’s neighbour, has been christened the best place for refugees to live because beyond opening its gates to them, it gives them a sense of entitlement which includes owning land and starting life afresh. In fact Uganda received the largest number of new refugees last year, more than half a million people according to latest data by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The council’s Secretary General Jan Egeland aptly captured the current refugee status. “The system protecting refugees will collapse if we do not step up our support to countries like Uganda. The richest and most stable countries from Europe to the US do their uttermost to keep refugees away. At the same time, they are not adequately funding reception of refugees in poor host countries,”

As resources become increasingly scarce, organized criminal groups crop up and effects of climate change continue to be felt, the number of refugees will no doubt rise. It is time to walk the talk. Members of the United Nations General assembly last year each committed to provide better educational opportunities for refugee children while embracing and improving the working conditions of those displaced. That should form a starting point as each demonstrate their level of

commitment. A refugee problem belongs to the entire world and has to be solved by the world together. In the words of former US president Barack Obama,” the refugee crisis is a test of our common humanity. We must recognize that refugees are a symptom of larger failures—be it war, ethnic tensions, or persecution.”